Fished rail joint



Mamh M13 1936, ENs 2 @33 FISHED RAIL JOINT Filed May 20, 1952 INYENTORNOREERT VRYENS ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 10, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFIQE Application May 20,

In Belgium 2 Claims.

The fished rail joint according to the present invention has for itsobject the taking up of the play which is produced between thefish-plate bearing surfaces near the ends of thejoined rails and thecentral portions of the fish-plates.

It should be noted at the beginning that in the joints of the prior artthe fish-plate bearing surfaces of the rails, which receive practicallyall of the wear, are of a length of only several centimeters. In effect,during the course of service and due to the repeated shocks of thepassage of. loads over the joints of the rails, the ends thereof aresubjected to slight repeated bendings, which create an appreciable wearon the fish-plate bearing surfaces adjacent the ends of the rails and atthe central portion of the fish-plates, whereas the other portions ofthe fish-plate bearing surface formed on the rails and other portions ofthe fish-plates are subjected to very little wear.

To provide for the efficient taking up. of clearance or loosening of thejoints produced by the above-described wear, it is important that theclamping system satisfy, among other conditions, the following:

In View of the considerable importance of the wear on the fish-platebearing surfaces adjacent the ends of the rails compared to that ofother parts of said bearing surfaces, it is necessary, in order that thetaking up of play between the fish-plate and fish-plate bearing surfaceson the rail be possible, that the central part of the fishplate restsolely on the bearing surface provided on the inclined portions of thehead and foot of the rail and that a sufiicient free space be leftbetween the web of the rail and the fish-plate to permit furthermovement of the central portion of the fish-plate toward the web of therails.

Another condition to be realized at the same time as the above is: Inorder that movement of the central portion of the fish-plate toward therail be possible when the first condition is accomplished, it isessential that parts of the fish-plate other than the central portion,which are also called elastic arms, do not oppose this movement. Forthis result, it is necessary that parts of the fish-plate other than thecentral portion be neither in contact with the fish-plate bearingsurface, nor with the web of the rail.

The third condition to be complied with, together with the first two,is: In order that the system be relatively efficient, the wear producedon the fish-plates and fish-plate bearing surfaces adjacent the ends ofthe rails must be taken up automatically in proportion to its formation.In

1932, Serial No. 612,574

June 22, 1931 effect, in the case of the contrary, the slight initialwear produced will cause repeated shocks of the load passing over thejoint and will result in a rapid increase of the initial wear.Consequently, for the automatic taking up of the play to be possible, itis necessary when tightening the fish-bolts that an elastic tension becreated in the fish-plate, which will tend to constantly move thecentral portion of the fish-plates toward the web of the joined rails.

The present invention complies with this condition, due to the fact thatthe fish-bolts are positioned near the middle ofthe portions of thefish-plates which are not in contact with the rails. In this condition,the tightening of the fish-bolts has the effect of giving the elasticarms of the fish-plate a curvature, the convexity of which is directedtoward the web of the rail. The elastic tension created in the portionof the fish-plate under the bending effect has a tendency to urge thecentral portion of the fishplate toward the rails and, consequently,will immediately take up any play between the fishplate and thefish-plate bearing surface on the rails adjacent the ends thereof as itis produced.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of example, without in any waylimiting the invention, several different constructions according to theinvention. The invention covers the various original features comprisedin the arrangements shown.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal view of a fished rail joint according to theinvention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of Fig. 1 taken through the bolts, thenuts being assumed not tightened.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 in which the fishing nuts are assumedto have been screwed home.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line IV- IV of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line V-V of Figs. 1 and 2 before thebolt passing through the hole 13 is tightened.

Fig. 6 is a View similar. to Fig. 5 showing the bolt tightened.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line VII- VII of Fig. 1.

Figs. 8 and 9 are, respectively, an elevation and a plan of a modifiedconstruction of fish-plate according to the invention.

The rails I and 2 are joined by two fishplates 3 and 4 arranged ateither side of the rail. These fishplates are constructed so as tosupport the ends of the rails by their central or active parts 5 restingon bearings or seats on a length corresponding to that where the weargenerally takes place. At either side of this active part, are arrangedelastic arms 6 and I having their ends 8 and 9 resting on the rail. Thefishplate is constructed in such a manner that at rest, that is to saywhen the arms are not acted upon by the bolts which pass through them,they are held away from the rails (Figs. 2 and 5). When the bolt placedin the hole I3 is screwed home, the elastic arm I will be elasticallybent and brought nearer to the rail, without however reaching it (Figs.3 and 6). The same applies to the arm 6 when the bolt of the hole [2 istightened.

The movement of the elastic arms 6 and 1 toward the rail is permitted,due to the fact that these elements or intermediate portions do not haveany part thereof in contact with the web of the rail nor with thefish-plate bearing sur faces. On the contrary, the central portion 5 andthe end portions 8 and 9 cannot, except in the case of Wear, be movedtoward the rail, since these parts are in contact with the inclinedfaces of the head and the foot of the rail which afford bearing surfacesfor the fish-plate.

The result of the bending of the elastic arms of the fish-plates is thatthe central parts 5 are constantly forced to come nearer to the web ofthe rail and to take up automatically any wear that might have beencaused between the fishplates and the fishplate bearings or seats on therails.

As regards taking up the play, there are two cases to be considered: Inthe first of these cases the wear is such that it is taken up by thesimple straightening of the elastic arms. In the second place, 'the wearis greater at the ends of the heads of the rails than at any otherpoint. In order to take up this wear, the central or active part 5 ofthe fishplate 3 for instance would have to come nearer to the heads ofthe rails by rising on the inclined plane of the feet or flanges of therails 2 and 3, to an extent greater than that of the ends 8 and 9. Thearms 6 and I would have therefore to undergo vertical deformation to theextent required for the purpose, and they can undergo such deformationowing to the fact that their strength in this plane is less than that ofthe central part.

It will be understood that after the fishplates have been used for acertain time, it may be advisable to tighten again the fishbolts andmore particularly the bolts of the active or central part. The elasticarms will not offer an excessive resistance to such renewed tighteningsince they are deformable.

As regards the bolt holes, it must be pointed out that the holes l2--I5of the fishplates are smaller than the holes l and II whilst in therails they are all equal to the largest ones. This arrangement has atwo-fold purpose: To reduce to the least possible extent the weakeningof the arms and of their bearings by the drilling of the holes whichthey comprise, and further to enable the'bolts |2l5 to move in the railsto the amount required by the working of the elastic arms.

For the purpose of facilitating the vertical movement of the fishplates,the holes l2 to I are elongated as visible in Fig. 7.

The method of manufacturing flshplates complying with the conditionshereinbefore set forth, may vary in several ways:-

(a) They may be manufactured in the ordinary way and thereupon the armsformed by removing by means of a tool the desired quantity of material.The fishplate would then have the appearance shown diagrammatically inFigure 1, that is to say the height of the arms would be smaller thanthat of their bearings and than-that of the central part (see Figs. 1, 5and 6).

(b) The fishplate may be stamped out in dies directly to the aboveshape.

(0) By pressing out: Force away the intermediate parts 6 and I to asufficient distance from the plane which connects the ends 3, 4 and thecentral part 1 of the fish-plate, so that when the ends and the centralpart are in contact with the bearing surfaces of the rails, saidintermediate parts are not able to come in contact with the bearingsurfaces (see Figs. 8 and 9).

What I claim is:

1. In a rail joint, a fish-plate for joining the ends of two railstogether, comprising a central portion adapted to engage only bearingsurfaces formed on the inclined portions of the head and the foot of therails to be joined, said central portion bearing on a length of each ofthe rails corresponding to that portion usually subjected to wear, theextremities of the fishplate being firmly joined to the rails and theintermediate portions of the fish-plate between the central portion andthe extremities thereof being adapted to remain spaced from thefishplate bearing surfaces and the webs of the rails, and fish-boltspositioned near the middle of the intermediate portions of thefish-plate for pressing the central portion of the fish-plate onto thebearing surface provided on the rails, the said intermediate portionshaving a weak horizontal rigidity in order to permit the easy bending ofsaid portions by the tightening of the said fish-bolts.

2. In a rail joint, a fish-plate for joining the ends of two railstogether, comprising a central portion adapted to engage only bearingsurfaces formed on the inclined portions of the head and the foot of therails to be joined, said central portion bearing on a length of each ofthe rails corresponding to that portion usually subjected to wear, theextremities of the fish plate being firmly joined to the rails and theintermediate portions of the fish-plate between the central portion andthe extremities thereof being adapted to remain spaced from thefishplate bearing surfaces and the webs of the rails, and fish-boltspositioned near the middle of the intermediate portions of thefish-plate for pressing the central portion of the fish-plate onto thebearing surface provided on the rails, the said intermediate portionshaving a rectangular crosssection of small breadth.

NORBERT VRYENS.

